Monday, 5 August 2013

Microsoft Office Comes to Android Smartphones But Not Tablets

Microsoft has unveiled Office Mobile for Android. The app is a pared down version of its Office software and is available for smartphones, but not tablets.The app is available through the Google Play Store in the US, although Microsoft has revealed it will be coming to other countries in several

Microsoft is bringing a pared-down version of its Office software to Android phones, but it won’t work on Android tablets just as it doesn’t on iPads.

The new offering follows the release of an iPhone version in June and brings an Office app to phones running the most widely used operating system on new android smartphones. You can use the app to view and edit an attachment sent by email. But it’s not meant to create a complex spreadsheet from scratch.

There is little difference between the iPhone version of last month and the Android version announced today. The experience is much the same with much the same functionality, android mobile offering Word, Excel and PowerPoint document creation and editing on Android smartphones.

Microsoft Corp. is trying to make its Office 365 subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft’s Windows system now have the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Microsoft has just released an Android app for Office Mobile, widening the reach of its pared-down access to Word, Excel and PowerPoint specifically tailored for the small screen.

If you do have an Office 365 subscription it would definitely be a no-brainer as it supports all sorts of formatting and you can both view and edit your documents on the go. All that formatting is fairly basic, though, and deeper options are not available.